Samsung is starting to roll out the latest Android update for owners of the Galaxy S III. The latest update to the Android operating system for the smartphone will bring the device to version 4.1, otherwise known as Jelly Bean. With the update now available to some European users, the S III has become the first non-Nexus Android smartphone to get Jelly Bean.

The first European users to get the update are owners in Poland. The update started rolling out there early this morning and Samsung has confirmed that it will be "gradually introduced to other markets." Samsung offered no further details on specific timeframes for the upgrade being available in other countries.

“The availability and schedule of the software upgrade will vary by market and wireless carriers’ requirements,” said Samsung in an official statement.

Samsung Galaxy S III

Android 4.1 brings with it a number of improvements Android users should really appreciate. Updates to the S III smartphone will include real-time reminders and recommendations from Google Now, improved speed and responsiveness, enforced consistent frame rates for all drawings and animations, and more.

Along with the updated Android operating system, Samsung is also updating some of its own software on the Galaxy S III. Samsung will be updating the device with an Easy Mode allowing the user to have five large widgets on the home screen. The widgets can be arranged in 4 x 2 and 4 x 4 styles. The updated software will also bring a Blocking Mode to allow users to block incoming calls, notifications, alarms, and indicator lights for a specific period.

Just get Apex Launcher, Nova Launcher or Holo Launcher HD (I have the paid versions for the 3 of them, all quite good except that today's update for Apex has rendered it unusable till the devs get out the next update).

Before I used Go Launcher but it's now eating up to 100mbs of ram (compare that to less than 30 for all the others I've mentioned) and the worst part is that it lags in transitions and animations quite frequently, something I can not stand on a 4-core, 1gb RAM, high performance GPU monster like the SGS3.

I did love the highly theme-able interface of GO. Apex is the next best thing but quite behind. Nova and Holo just allow you to theme the icons. No menu pimping up or dock background. But all 3 are more functional, slimmer and faster than Go launcher, which by itself is quite a good deal more functional than touchwiz.

Having up to 5 dock pages (except Holo's only 3), each icon with up and down gestures (except nova's only up gesture), and customizable drawer tabs and groups, all with customizable menus, several different transitions to select from along with configurable speeds for them, makes for a pretty decent UI experience.

Just give a try to the free options of Nova, Apex are Holo and then let us know if you still find yourself needing a custom ROM :)